When a star dies, there are three possibilities, all having to do with mass. Our sun, and most stars, are fairly small - when they run out of fuel, they'll swell up to be very large for a short period, then gradually shrink back down & die. More massive stars (at least 3 to 8 times the mass of the sun) will undergo a "supernova" - an explosion. The explosion occurs in a particular layer around the star's core, blowing off huge amounts of matter, but also compressing the core.
This compression *can* create a neutron star - where the electrons and protons of atoms in the star's material are so compacted that they crush together to become a mass made up of ONLY neutrons, about 6 to 12 miles in diameter.
If the explosion and mass is great enough, the compression won't stop there - it'll shrink down to a dimensionless point in space. When we "see" a black hole, we're really seeing the material around it falling in. There's a border around the black hole - an Event Horizon - where normal space ends. AT the Event Horizon, the orbital speed is the speed of light. Closer to the black hole, and nothing can move fast enough to escape.
As more & more mass falls into the black hole, the event horizon increases in diameter, and if there's a LOT of mass to draw from (like at the center of galaxies) they can become supermassive - with huge event horizons surrounding them.
2007-03-15 04:49:29
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answer #1
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answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7
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I will say what I have been told and read.
The stars mass determines whether it's a black hole or not. At the center of the black hole is the singularity where space and time don't exist. Nothing exists in the center, nothing can. Gobbling up more than 100 stars at the same time is strange and I haven't heard anything like that before. Taking in so many stars would mean it's a Supermassive Black Hole. What you find at the center of every galaxy. Anyways, it would take me too long to explain it all so I will give you a site that explains pretty much everything you would like to know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Holes
Hope I helped.
2007-03-15 06:31:50
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answer #2
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answered by T-Bob Squarepants 3
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well black holes are all different sizes, there are supermassive black holes, usually in the center of the galaxy. The black holes that you hear about that gobble up 100s of stars are the ones in the center of the galaxy. Our milky way galaxy has a super massive black hole in the middle, However it is inactive right now. Dormant if you will. It is the mass of 3 million suns. Our next nearest galaxy, Andromeda's black hole is as dense and powerful as 30 millions of our suns.
2007-03-15 08:12:32
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answer #3
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answered by Adam B 2
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Kym's answer is SO funny;)
A black hole is the remnant of a dead star. Stars have different masses, our sun is not big enough to become a black hole!
If the mass of the stellar remnant is high enough, the neutron degeneracy pressure will be insufficient to prevent collapse below the Schwarzschild radius.
The stellar remnant thus becomes a black hole. The mass at which this occurs is not known with certainty, but is currently estimated at between 2 and 3 solar masses. Meaning it takes AT LEAST 2 to 3 times the mass of our sun for a star to become a black hole!
2007-03-15 05:40:34
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answer #4
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answered by Yahoo! 5
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some black holes are created by collapsing stars. the supermassive black holes (several hundred thousand solar masses worth) that reside in the centers of galaxies are either leftovers from the big bang. or in the earlier days of the galaxy a lot of matter ended up in the centers of galaxies and collapsed into these huge black holes.
a stellar black hole wouldn't be big enoguh to gobble up stars like you said but a supermassive black hole certainly could.
2007-03-15 05:49:23
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answer #5
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answered by Tim C 5
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There is a basic flaw with the the concept of "black holes". Consider the following:
Were a person to determine mass acceleration 0.716 miles from the very center of our planet, they would find that were a mass to be released in the area, and were it free to fall, it would be accelerating past the speed of light in one second. In our sun this distance is 400 miles from its center. What this means is, that within this area within our sun, were black holes to be a valid concept, there would exist a "black hole". The concept of "black holes" is a theory, not an established fact as many would have you believe.
2007-03-15 07:24:21
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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The hole is not big its very dense, because its gravitational force is so strong. I think they are created when the gravitational force reaches a point where matter is condensed to its smallest possible form. I think the Nuclear Reaction of the Sun kep the Gravity at bay, but once all its fuel is used up they become black holes
2007-03-15 04:23:00
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answer #7
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answered by Samantha 6
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A Black hollow is a around region (volume) of area surrounding a Singularity the place the gravity of the Singularity is so stable that each little thing (alongside with easy) gets pulled down into the Singularity (hence using the term "hollow"); and not something (no longer even easy) can escape the gravitational pull of the Singularity (hence using the term "Black"). The farthest distance from the Singularity the place easy can not escape is termed the form Horizon. the form Horizon defines the outer boundary of the Black hollow. A Singularity is a element in area without volume and countless density. that's shaped from the cave in of a great megastar (many cases the mass of our very own sunlight). The gravity of this megastar is so stable that the cave in maintains previous the element of optimal atomic density (protons, neutrons, and electrons touching) to a element of no volume and countless density. the reason the gravity of the Black hollow at and interior the form Horizon is so stable is with the help of the fact it is so on the brink of the mass of the Singularity. And, as you be attentive to, the closer you get to the middle of mass of an merchandise, the improved the gravitational pull of that merchandise. The diameter of a decrease-end great-huge Black hollow (one hundred,000 cases the mass of our very own sunlight) is approximately a hundred ninety,000 miles. under the area from the Earth to the Moon. The great-huge Black hollow on the middle of our Milky way Galaxy ought to in good shape between the Earth and the sunlight. .
2016-11-25 21:44:55
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answer #8
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answered by ? 4
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Because of the density of the collapsed stars mass. Check out the book, Death by Black hole by Van Gruessen Tyson, it's on the NY times bestseller list.
2007-03-15 04:25:14
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answer #9
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answered by guy o 5
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This is what happens when stars die,
it creates a hole, we got some in our galaxey as-well.
they suck up everything in it's way.
if a person got sucked in one it will rip them appart and more so,
So alll that gets sucked up goes WHERE ?
It must come back out somewhere in time or past.
where do you think it leads to
go figure peace out
2007-03-15 04:27:12
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answer #10
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answered by Norweiginwood420 3
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